Saviors from the Flames
by thisissparta789789
Summary: Hanako Ikezawa and Emi Ibarazaki, two girls whose lives were changed forever when they were saved by firefighters. Now, they have sworn to give back to the small town they both came from and serve the very fire department that saved both of them from the clutches of death. Armed with determination, they will succeed. (Rated M for violence/swearing/implicit sexual matters.)
1. The Beginning

**_April 12, 2008_**

"With that signature," a man in a blue and orange jumpsuit uniform behind a desk at a fire station open house explained to a light brown-haired girl in a sweater and jeans. "You'll be all set."

"Thank you," the girl replied as she bowed. "You guys did wonders for me when I was younger, and I want to give back." She then pulled up one of the legs of her jeans and revealed a prosthetic leg underneath. "I'd never let this stop me."

"I'm glad you feel that way, Ibarazaki-san," the man in the uniform replied. Suddenly, however, he turned to another girl in the crowd of people. "Wait a minute... Is that...?"

Emi Ibarazaki turned around and saw a familiar face looking around in the fire station. "Ikezawa-san? From Yamaku Academy?"

The violet-haired girl, who had her long hair partially obscuring her face, turned around at the mention of her name and said, "Huh? Well, uh..."

"Do you remember me?" Emi then walked up to Hanako Ikezawa. "I'm Ibarazaki-san. We graduated together a few weeks ago."

"Oh yeah," Hanako quietly replied. "Now I remember. I was here checking things out in my hometown."

"Wait a minute," Emi replied with confusion. "You live in Shichigahama too?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I always did, even after the fire."

"I used to live here until the accident," Emi replied. "Well, no shit, what a coincidence. Me and my mom just moved back here since I graduated." She then pointed to the table she was just at, which was labeled "VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT." "I signed up to be a volunteer firefighter. I've wanted to give back to the people that saved my life all those years ago for a while now."

The man at the table, named Gasai Hiroto, recognized Hanako and walked up to the two of them. "Pardon the interruption. Are you Ikezawa Hanako?"

"Yes," she replied, unsure why he was interested in her. "Why do you ask?"

"I helped save your life ten years ago," he explained to her.

Hanako froze as she realized he was right. She recognized him as the firefighter that had rescued her. "I... You..."

...

**_July 11, 1998_**

"Standby Station 51, 52." A dispatcher at the Miyagi District Fire Dispatch Center then pressed in two sets of codes on a keypad, sending out tones over the radio channel he had been transmitting on that would alert firefighters and set off firehouse sirens. Both of his partners were still on the phone with the two callers and gathering more information. "Miyagi District Fire Control for Station 51 and 52, Chief 50, respond to (ADDRESS REMOVED), (ADDRESS REMOVED), reported structure fire. Time is 00:09." It was very early in the morning, and the five fire departments (prior to consolidation of those five into a single department) the center dispatched did not see much activity at this time, especially Shichigahama, the smallest of the five.

It did not take long for a unit to answer up over the operations channel for Shichigahama. "Car 50-Alpha's responding, (ADDRESS REMOVED)." He was the career fire chief of the otherwise mostly-volunteer Shichigahama Town Fire Department.

"Car 50-Alpha at 3:10." He then turned to another dispatcher as they got off the phone with the original caller. "Anything new aside from there's a fire?"

"No," she replied to him. "The fire's somewhere in the back of the house according to the neighbor."

"Got it," he replied as he queues up his mic. "Miyagi District Fire Control to Car 50-Alpha, the first caller is reporting the fire is somewhere in the rear of the structure."

"50-Alpha received," he replied.

"Car 50-Bravo's responding," replied the volunteer assistant chief.

"At 00:10." The dispatcher then turned to a scanner that contained the police radio frequencies for the area, which were handled by a different dispatch center. They had dispatched two police cars to the fire scene soon after the fire department had been dispatched.

As he listened in, he heard a unit scream over the radio, "206 to Central, advise Miyagi District Fire Control I got a working house fire!"

"You heard him," the other partner, an older gentleman, told the dispatcher. "My caller says there may be someone still inside, by the way."

"Fire Control to all units responding to (ADDRESS REMOVED)," he transmitted. "I have police officers on the scene with a working house fire. I also have a report from a second caller there may be someone still inside the house."

...

At 00:15, Pumper 51 arrived on scene with two career firefighters and three volunteer firefighters. By then, all three chiefs had arrived, and one was inside actively searching for the victims, which were now in the plural since a family of three was trapped, and police officers were unable to reach them due to the intense heat. Four of the five firefighters onboard stepped off the pumper with their masks already on, ready to rush inside and put the fire out, while the fifth, the driver, jumped off and grabbed a long hard suction hose on the side to throw down into an in-ground hydrant. During the chaos, the four firefighters grabbed rolls of hose and rolled them out, each grabbing two 15 meter rolls and rolling them out to build two hose lines composed of four rolls each. One firefighter from each line then took a nozzle, while the other took either an axe or a halligan bar for search and forcible entry.

Two firefighters, one of whom was Hiroto, built their line first and raced to the door, which had already been forced in. They both clipped into their air packs and started breathing in air as they made their way into the house. As they crawled down the hallway through the thick and black smoke, Hiroto, behind the other firefighter on the line, radioed out, "Pumper 51 interior to Car 50-Charlie!"

"Go ahead," Car 50-Charlie replied deeper inside the building.

"Have you found any of the three victims?"

"I'm near the back bedroom," he replied. "I need a line over here to hit the fire! They said there's two of them in here! No one knows where the father is!"

"Got it," Hiroto replied. "Pumper 51, charge the line!" When he got no reply and no water for several seconds, he radioed back louder, "GET ME WATER, PUMPER 51!"

"Here it comes," Pumper 51's driver radioed back from the pump panel. Sure enough, it did not take long for their hose line to fill with water. As the two of them reached the back bedroom, they could hear but not see their deputy chief due to the heavy smoke. The heat from the fire in the room next door was oppressive.

"Hit the fire in there," the chief commanded them. "I'll grab the victims! When you knock it down, help me move them!"

"Got it," Hiroto replied. He then radioed out, "Interior to Command, I need two firefighters sent in to grab the Red Line from us. We gotta help Car 50-Charlie rescue two of the victims!"

"Received," Car 50-Alpha replied outside.

Hiroto then tapped the firefighter in front of him on the shoulder and said, "Hit the fire! The door's unlocked!"

"On it," he replied as he opened the door to the next room over and was met with a wall of flame. He then opened up the nozzle on the fire, darkening it down. As he knocked the fire down and advanced into the room, Hiroto stayed right behind him, feeding him more hose as the smoke blinded them once more. Suddenly, however, they both felt the heat rise inexplicably fast inside the room. "What the fuck?!" Then, in a flash, the room lit up, engulfing everything inside of it, including the firefighter ahead of Hiroto.

"HOLY SHIT," Hiroto screamed as he quickly ducked in and pulled his comrade from the room, disregarding the fact that he was fully engulfed in flames and screaming in intense pain. After Hiroto pulled him aside and out into the hallway, barely escaping the flames himself, he radioed out frantically, "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!" Meanwhile, the Blue Line, right behind them, was moving into the other room, attacking the fire, which had spread into the room the two victims that had been located were.

"Command on for the Mayday," Car 50-Alpha replied.

"This is Firefighter Gasai Hiroto," he frantically replied. "My partner was caught in a flashover in the back of the house! I think it got 50-Charlie and those two victims, too! I need assistance getting them all out! Somebody help me!"

"Received," he replied back. As he began delegating rescue assignments, The two firefighters on the Blue Line had just pulled 50-Charlie and the two victims out by themselves. 50-Charlie had been burned, but not as severely as Hiroto's partner, and was able to assist in his own rescue.

"The mom got burned real bad," he told them as he pried away the mom from her daughter. "She shielded the girl from the heat and flames when the flashover occurred!"

"Chief," Hiroto yelled over to him. "I got people coming! Shinohara-san got fucked up by that flashover! My line got destroyed!"

...

"So that's what happened," Emi said in the present day as Hiroto and Hanako finished the story. "I'm so sorry."

"Shinohara Tadashi never woke up," Hiroto explained further. "He died in a burn unit a week later. It was the first time Shichigahama Fire had a line of duty death since we had a chief die of a heart attack at a fire in the 60s, and the last before we merged with Shiogama Union Fire." He then sighed. "But enough of that. He'd be complaining right now if we got all down about something as trivial as his death. He always loved to bring people's moods up. Hell, his funeral, after all the formal ceremonies and the like, was pretty joyful. He said he wanted to have a bottle of Jim Bean buried with him, and we got like 30 of them donated to us after he died. All of them got buried under his grave. To top it off, his ashes accidentally got scattered on a bunch of us by a sudden gust of wind, and what was left was mixed with cake mix on a hunch by his wife. It's honestly exactly what he would have wanted, and I swear I could hear him laughing his ass off nearby."

Even Hanako, who took death seriously due to her past, could not help but laugh. "Wow... When that happens, God forbid, I kind of wish the mood won't be too solemn or gloomy, and some random event like that can bring people laughter."

"I hope I didn't scare either of you ladies away," Hiroto commented.

"It's fine," Emi replied, shrugging it off. "It's reality."

"Speaking of," Hanako replied as she bent over to look over an application. "I want in."

Hiroto was surprised, but pleasantly. "I see... Well, then just fill an application out here." He then handed the girl a pen. "Take all the time you need."

"Thank you," Hanako replied as she began to fill the application out. She then took a deep breath as she continued. She was a bit nervous, but was determined. "You saved my life, and I want to be able to save someone else's."

...

_**July 21, 2008**_

Today, at 8 in the morning, the Shiogama Union Fire Department's Volunteer Firefighter Summer Boot Camp began. This was to be three weeks, 40 hours per week, of training that would give volunteer firefighters in the department the skills needed to perform at a fire scene. The first week was for all volunteers, but the second and third weeks were for volunteers who would be going inside burning buildings like their paid counterparts, which Emi and Hanako would be doing. Emi, despite her prosthetic legs, was fully cleared to go ahead with training, as was Hanako. For this class, 28 students would meet at the headquarters of the Shiogama Union Fire Department every weekday at 8 in the morning, and only leave at 4 in the afternoon.

"At attention," the instructor of the class ordered the volunteers. All 28 of them immediately quieted themselves and stood side-by-side as the instructor, an older firefighter in his 50s, walked down the line. "Alright... Well, today is the day you start your training to become an Interior or Auxiliary Volunteer Firefighter with the Shiogama Union Fire Department. My name is Fujisaki Yasuhiro, and I have been a firefighter for 34 years, 26 of which I have made it a career. As I understand it, 9 of you will become Auxiliaries, and 19 of you will take the next step and become Interiors. In recent years, there has been a decline in the number of volunteer firefighters all across Japan, and the Miyagi District is no exception. I applaud all of you for coming forward to serve your communities on your own time. I myself started as a volunteer with the pre-merger Rifu Fire Department before I made it a career, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Now, you all must go through this training to adequately serve your communities. Your citizens are expecting you to give your 100% all the time, because at the end of the day, and pardon my language, but they don't give a flying fuck if you're paid to fight fires and ride on an ambulance or not when they need us. They expect you to perform just the same regardless. Don't think that just because you're a volunteer means you have an excuse to not perform your best. You make up the majority of our fire department, and without you, we cannot properly function."

Another instructor, female and younger than the previous one, then spoke up. "My name is Itou Taeko. I've been a volunteer firefighter ever since I was 20, so for 18 years. Before we merged in 1999, I was a volunteer with the Shichigahama Fire Department at Station 53. My father was also a volunteer for a long time. Our goal as fire instructors is not to break you or hurt you. Our goal is to ensure that no one's ghost comes back and says their training let them down. Our goal is to build you into firefighters. Even so, this is only the first step. I cannot stress enough that you need to keep training even after you complete this class. There are many training opportunities offered both by our fire department and by other fire departments, and I urge you all to look into them. For now, though, you are with us, and we expect you to be on your A-game every class."

Hanako thought to herself as the instructors continued, _"This is it. This is the ultimate test. This will prove that I've grown from that day where I lost everything in that fire. This is the moment where I go from victim to savior."_


	2. Trial by Fire

_**July 25, 2008**_

Today, the class of 28 would spend the class performing first aid and rescue scenarios. After an hour and a half of class instruction, the group donned turnout gear and went out onto the concrete training pad. On the pad were three cars that had been donated to the fire department with several dummies inside them, as well as three ambulances and three light rescue vehicles. The class was to be split into one group of 10 and two groups of 9, and they would cut open each car and remove the dummies safely as they would at a regular accident.

As an instructor got finished showing how to pry open a car door with a set of hydraulic spreaders, he asked his group, "Okay, who wants to be the first to use them to take the front passenger door?" Immediately, Emi raised her hand faster than anyone else, surprising Hanako. "Ibarazaki-san, eh? Alright then." He then handed the petite girl the spreaders and pointed where to spread. "Have at it."

"You got it," she replied as she dug the tip of the spreaders into a purchase point made earlier. She then turned them on, spreading apart the door for a few seconds before repositioning the tip, creating a crunching metallic sound with every inch that was spread. After three spreads, she stopped and pointed out to the instructor, sweat beading down her face from the heat, "Around here we'd cut, right?"

"Exactly," he replied as he began to go into a short talk about using the cutters.

However, Emi was not paying attention, instead thinking to herself about her past, _"It feels so weird using the tools that saved my life. It almost... It almost feels like I'm right back there, 8 years ago, on that warm summer day in 1999 when we got t-boned by that drunk and I lost my father."_ She then shook her head and closed her eyes a bit to get the bad memories out of her head. _"Exactly. That was 8 years ago, Emi. This is now. Focus on your training. You made a commitment to save lives."_

"Now," the instructor finished. "Ikezawa-san, why don't you give the cutters a try on this door?"

"Sure," Hanako replied, somewhat surprised she was chosen. The instructor then handed her a set of hydraulic cutters. "It- It isn't as he- Heavy as I thought it would be."

"A lot of guys say that," the instructor replied. "Now, cut right there." He then pointed out where to make the cut, and Hanako opened the cutters up before aiming down at her target and ensnaring it in the blades of the cutter. She then cut down, making easy work of whatever metal was in her way and opening the door up. "Now, in most accidents, this will probably be enough to get a trapped patient out. However, there are times where you need to go further with the door." He then held up a loop of rope. "That's where this comes in. You will wrap the rope around the door from the bottom of the windowsill to the bottom of the car once the hinges are cut, and as the firefighter with the spreaders spreads the door from the hinges, two or more firefighters will pull from the rope to give more leverage and to allow the door to drop to the ground once it's been ripped off the car." He then handed the rope to Emi and Hanako. "You two will pull, and I'll have Shirayuki-san and Momomiya-san use the cutters and spreaders."

* * *

_**August 5, 2008**_

Today was the first day of the third and final week of the class, and the second week of the Interior Firefighter portion of the class. The 19 firefighters who went on to this part of the class were to do the first of their structural fire evolutions today, having done vehicle and dumpster fires the week before. Hanako had done them with no issue, but was worried about the structural fire evolutions. Before the evolutions began in the morning, Taeko pulled her aside in a private area to speak to her. As they walked behind a truck, Hanako was worried that she may get kicked out of the class right then and there. "Instructor, is something wrong?"

"No," Taeko replied. "Ikezawa-san, you're not in trouble, and you're not out of the class. The reason I came to talk to you is because some of the other instructors do have some worries. I know what happened to your family, and if that affects your firefighting today, that's fine."

Hanako nodded. "I see."

"Look, if you get to a point where you don't feel comfortable going any further, there's no shame in it. Ikezawa-san, you'll still be a volunteer firefighter. I'm not saying anything is gonna happen, but if it does, don't be afraid or feel like you're going to get ostracized. If any students here pick on you or harass you for doing that or for any other reason, I'll put an end to that shit real fast, and I'll write their asses up for workplace harassment." Taeko then took Hanako by the hands. "Personally, I think you'll be fine. I thought I was going to fail around this time, too, but after my first burn, the only thing I wanted to do was do it again."

Some tears fell from Hanako's eyes as she smiled, giving Taeko a hug. "Thank you... Thank you for being the first to say that."

"Say what?" Taeko was flattered, but also confused.

"To say they'd put a stop to any bullying of me," Hanako replied as she took a deep breath. "Nobody of any authority cared about that until now."

Taeko was shocked and saddened to hear that. She thought to herself in deep-seated but tranquil rage, _"Who in their right minds would bully a fucking burn victim, especially one a brother or sister in the fire service died to save?"_

* * *

The moment of truth was upon Emi and Hanako, who were both selected to be on the attack line. The tower they were to use was a three-floor brick tower, and a fire had been set on the second floor on the back side. Their line was already built, and all they had to do was go on air and march in. Emi grabbed a halligan bar as she said to Hanako, "You want the nozzle?"

Hanako thought to herself for a second. "Yeah, sure." She nodded and took the nozzle at the end of the hose. "Emi-chan, you ready?"

"Yeah," she replied as she picked up the dry hose. She then used her free hand to clip her SCBA mask's tube into her belt-mounted air regulator as Hanako did the same. They both then went up to the front door as Hanako felt it for heat and four more firefighters got ready behind her with a backup line and a two-man search crew. "Emi-chan, the door's fine. Open it up!"

"Right," Emi replied as she opened the door with a twist of the knob. As soon as the door opened, thick smoke confronted them, mostly blinding them as they crawled inside. "Hanako-chan, they said the fire's in the back room on the second floor!"

"Got it," Hanako replied as they crawled to the staircase in the center of the first floor. When they got to the stairs, Hanako began to crawl up them, feeling for the stairs in front of her to ensure there were still stairs for her to climb. "Emi-chan, pull me a bit more line!"

Emi gave a thumbs-up and shouted, "You got it!" She then fed her another foot and a half of hose as she made her way up the stairs, her halligan bar in her other hand. As Hanako made it to the top, she came across two doors that lead to the rooms on the second floor. On a hunch, she went for the door to the right, and felt it for heat with her gloved hand. Sure enough, she had heat on the other side. As Emi came up behind her, she asked, "You got heat?!"

"Yeah," Hanako replied. She then radioed out, "Pumper TS1, charge the Red Line! Charge the Red Line!" About 10 seconds later, water flooded the hose, and a few kinks in the hose undid themselves. "Emi, take the door!"

Emi nodded and pounded the door with the duckbill end of the halligan bar, noting that it swung outward away from them. After pounding the door three times, she stuck the adze end into the jamb between the door and the doorframe and pushed down on the halligan, destroying the lock. "Okay, the door should open!" She then gave it one last pounding from the duckbill of the halligan, forcing it open and coming face to face with the fire in the room as she moved back and assisted Hanako. The fire itself was composed of four wooden pallets, three bales of hay, and some old pieces of furniture.

Hanako immediately opened up on the nozzle, fighting back the growth in the fire due to the rush of air and pushing it back into the room. "Interior to Command, we got water on the fire! The fire is knocked down!" It was a rush to finally put water on the fire for the normally timid young woman, and she felt as if she could do anything as the thick steam and smoke filled the second floor more. The heat was intense, but neither Emi nor Hanako cared.

"Received," an instructor replied. "Don't put it out. Come on down. Good work, guys." He had instructed them to not fully put the fire out so it could grow back up again for the next evolution.

Several minutes later, a triumphant Hanako and Emi emerged from the burn tower. As they dropped their hose and came off of air, they stripped their helmets and masks off to get some fresh air. Taeko walked over to them, a grin on her face. "You ladies did well. Ikezawa-san, how do you feel?"

"I just got one question," Hanako asked her as she wiped sweat off of her face. "When do I do that again? I wanna do that again."

"See? I told you," she joyfully replied. "The first time you do it, you fall in love with it." She then gave both of them hi-fives. "Get ready to go again. You'll be on backup this time."

Emi patted Hanako on the back. "Hey, you did awesome up there. I bet you can't wait to tell Hisao-kun."

"You got that right," Hanako confidently replied. "I guess that scared little girl is gone."


	3. Adventures and Misadventures in Love

_**January 5, 2008**_

"You know," Hisao told his girlfriend as he wrote down that he had taken his medication that morning in one of the hallways of Yamaku Academy. "You seem to be really pushing yourself lately to interact with others more, Hanako-chan."

"Y-You think so?" Hanako was surprised by the question. "I mean... I guess I am." She thought to herself, _"Did he really see my efforts that much? I was trying to do it on my own."_

"Lilly-chan told me you've been working hard at not being so nervous," he replied as he closed his notebook. "I must say, I notice it myself."

"We-Well," Hanako replied to him. "What if I am?"

"I think that it's not up to me if you decide to try to be more outgoing," Hisao spoke to her, informing her of his own opinion on the matter. "That's up to you." He then smiled and patted her on her left shoulder. "If you're taking the steps, I'm very proud of you."

Hanako could not help but feel warm on the inside after hearing that from her boyfriend, and gave him a hug as she closed her eyes and smiled. "Thanks, Hisao."

...

_**April 15, 2008**_

As Hanako and Hisao sat in their new living room among several moving boxes, they watched the evening news together. Hanako decided to break the silence of the two lovers by striking a conversation. "So, Hisao, there's something you should know that I did yesterday."

Hisao, hand-deep in a bowl of popcorn, looked over at his girlfriend with curiosity. "And what was that?"

"I met Ibarazaki-san at the fire station nearby for their open house," she replied to him with some excitement. "And she was going to join it as a volunteer firefighter. I talked with her and a few of the firefighters, and I also put in to join as a volunteer." She was clearly pumped for the prospect of fighting fires. "They said they'll get back to me in May."

Hisao was both happy for her and worried. "Firefighting, huh?" He then paused to try to phrase his worries correctly. "Well, I'm glad to see you're excited about it, but I just can't help but feel worried given your..." He was still afraid to explicitly mention her past given the bad memories she had.

"The fire my family had," Hanako finished for him. "I know." She then held his hands in her hands and turned to him on the couch. "That's why I want to join. They saved my life at the cost of one of their own when my house burned down. Now that I look back at it almost 10 years later, I feel like I ought to help another little girl or boy who becomes the victim of another fire. This past school year that I've spent with you has helped me grow far beyond what I used to be, Hisao-kun, and now that I've grown, I want to face down the same enemy that took so much from me. Ibarazaki-san feels the same way, though in her case it's because many of the same guys that rescued me also cut her out of the car she was in when she lost her legs and her father."

Hisao could not help but feel happy for her. "I'm glad to see you so focused on it. I'm surprised they let in people like us, though."

"I don't really have a physical disability," Hanako replied with a shrug. "I was just a ward of the state since I got orphaned. As for Ibarazaki-san, they allow people with prosthetic legs in provided either only one leg is cut off completely or both legs are cut off below the knees." She then brushed her hair aside to reveal her burn scars on her face. "I may have to show these more often, but now that I think about it, I may help that little girl or boy that was in my shoes when I was their age by being the thing that saves them... Or, well, so-something like that. I don't know, th-that sounded better in my head."

"It sounded fine," her boyfriend assured her with a gentle hand to her burned shoulder and his other hand caressing her face even more gently. "I think it sounds really brave that you'd do that for them. You could be the role model to those kids that you desperately once needed but didn't have."

Hanako giggled. "Me? A role model? I... I'm not too sure."

...

_**August 9, 2008**_

Today, the 19 volunteer firefighters that took the full class graduated at the headquarters of the SUFD. As the 19 volunteers lined up in front of a fire engine parked outside in the fire station parking lot, all in Class A paramilitary uniforms, instructor Taeko Itou had already begun her speech to the crowd of family and friends before her, congratulating all of the graduates for their hard work and effort. Halfway through, though, she decided to switch gears a bit. "Now, before we do anything else, I would like to call attention to two graduates who have overcome many challenges to be with us today. Ibarazaki Emi-san, and Ikezawa Hanako-san, please step forward."

Emi and Hanako looked to each other and nodded, stepping forward as asked.

"The reason I bring these two graduates forward is because though they signed up to be firefighters in April this year and were sworn in in May," Taeko began her speech. "This was not the rest time we have had rather personal interactions with them. In 1998, Ikezawa-san was rescued by firefighters from a house fire that claimed the lives of her parents, as well as one of our own in the pre-merger Shichigahama Town Fire Department. This fire left her with scarring on the right side of her body, and she faced bullying and harassment at the hands of the intolerant as a result. When I first interacted with Ikezawa-san when she filled out the necessary paperwork in May, she was still a rather shy and reserved individual, even though it had lessened according to those around her. Despite her fears and challenges, she exceeded expectations and performed admirably in the class. She told me yesterday, in fact, that 'that scared little girl that dreaded the very thought of being near flames or other people disappeared the minute I fought fire.' As for Ibarazaki-san, many of the same firefighters who rescued Ikezawa-san also rescued her when she and her father were hit by a drunk driver in Shichigahama. Her father tragically lost his life almost instantly, but due to the prompt response and professional work done by the Shiogama Union Fire Department, Ibarazaki-san got to live another day, albeit her legs had to be amputated below the knee due to the extent of her injuries. She never let something as trivial to her as the lack of lower legs stop her. She was a track star at Yamaku Academy, just as she had been at her previous schools before and after the accident, and when she caught wind she could become a volunteer firefighter, she kept on going like she always does."

By now, Emi and Hanako were overjoyed to hear the praise, and both were fighting back tears of joy. They also could tell Taeko was as well based on her body language and face.

"I... I am very proud to have taught all of these graduates, but especially two graduates who had to jump through hurdles that many of us don't even think about," she continued as she wiped her eyes of tears and chuckled. "My apologies, I do get a bit emotional at times. Anyway, I am proud to present all of our graduates to the Shiogama Union Fire Department Board of Fire Commissioners as fully-trained and fully-qualified Interior Volunteer Firefighters effective immediately. All 19 of these graduates are now cleared to perform fire and rescue tasks in environments classified as immediately dangerous to life and health, including but not limited to burning buildings, and shall work alongside career firefighters in doing so."

The 5-man Board of Fire Commissioners then joined with the rest of the crowd in applauding the graduates. Hisao looked out from the crowd and gave a quiet thumbs-up to Hanako, who smiled in response and quietly mouthed a "thank you" to him.

...

**_August 10, 2008_**

Emi and Hanako spent the early Sunday morning at the firehouse, helping the five career firefighters assigned to Station 51 with their rig check while also checking equipment primarily operated by the volunteers. Alongside them was a volunteer Lieutenant, named Takeo Matoi, who had been a volunteer for 9 years, and was one of the first to join after the merger of the five local fire departments.

As Hanako checked several radios in the fire station's radio room, Takeo called out to her, "Ikezawa-san, can you fetch me a radio? The 9:00 tone test is gonna start soon, and I gotta acknowledge for it."

"On it," she replied, grabbing a portable radio from the radio room and walking outside with it. As she handed it to him, the tone test began.

"Miyagi District Fire Control to all fire stations," a dispatcher began. "This is the weekly pager and siren tone test for the Shiogama Union Fire Department. Please stand by for a series of messages. Starting with all stations in District 1." A long steady tone was then transmitted that lasted for 6 seconds, followed by a DTMF code of 1111111. "Miyagi District Fire Control to Stations 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 61, 62, 63, and 64, and Chief 10-Alpha, Chief 10-Bravo, and Chief 10-Charlie, this is a test of your station alerting systems, pagers, and fire sirens. Please acknowledge in order on Channel 2." Then, there was a 5 second pause. "Continuing with all stations in District 2." Another long steady tone followed, followed by DTMF code 2222222. "Miyagi District Fire Control to Stations 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 71, 72, Chief 20-Alpha, Chief 20-Bravo, Chief 20-Charlie, this is a test of your station alerting systems, pagers, and fire sirens. Please acknowledge in order on Channel 3."

As the test went on for the next two rounds of stations, they all could faintly hear the fire station sirens from Tagajo going off in the distance. Emi said to Hanako, "When I first moved back here, it startled me when they got a fire call since I'm right across from the firehouse." She then pointed to the house she and her mother had moved into.

Now, it was time for Shichigahama. "Continuing with all stations in District 5." A long steady tone followed, which set off the in-station alerting bells and rang up the pagers of any volunteers present. Once DTMF code 5555555 was sent out, the loud mechanical siren on top of the firehouse roared to life. "Miyagi District Fire Control to Stations 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, and 58, Chief 50-Alpha, Chief 50-Bravo, Chief 50-Charlie, this is a test of your station alerting systems, pagers, and fire sirens. Please acknowledge in order on Channel 7."

Takeo keyed up his mic and replied on Channel 7, "Station 51 acknowledging the test."

As the dispatcher replied and went down the list of stations and chiefs, Emi looked out onto the quiet road before her. Shichigahama was a small town, unlike the busier Tagajo and Shiogama, and was often considered alongside Matsushima as being the "retirement home" for career firefighters in the department since there was not many serious emergencies. However, Shichigahama did have one major risk area, as it shared an oil refinery complex with Sendai and Tagajo, and thus had a special foam/chemical pumper assigned to Station 51, Chemical 51. Its other apparatus included Aerial 51, which was a pumper equipped with a short 15m aerial ladder, Ambulance 51, a regular ambulance and one of two in Shichigahama, Brush 51, a smaller pumper meant for outdoor fires, and Light Rescue 51, a light-duty rescue unit. The other main station in Shichigahama with paid firefighters was Station 55, which had Aerial 55, Brush 55, and Ambulance 55. The other six firehouses either had only a pumper (52, 56, 57, 58) or a pumper and a brush truck (53, 54) and had only volunteer firefighters. With 16 pieces of fire apparatus plus a paid district chief and two volunteer district chiefs, the town had 8 paid firefighters on duty at all times, a single paid deputy chief who oversaw them all and worked usually office hours and was on-call all other times, and 124 volunteer firefighters (80 interior/44 auxiliary).

...

Later in the day, around 6 PM, after Hanako and Emi had responded as interior firefighters to a fire alarm and a carbon monoxide alarm earlier in the day, Hanako and Hisao were at the firehouse as she showed him around. Emi walked over about 35 minutes after the couple had arrived, coming over to check her gear. As she walked to the back of the firehouse's garage, where the gear lockers for the volunteers were kept, she heard rustling from Chemical 51 and turned around. Curious as to the source of the noise, she looked around. _"Where was that noise coming from? It sounded like the cab of the Chemical rig rocking back and forth."_ She placed her pager in her locker and quietly walked over to the right side rear door of Chemical 51, trying not to raise any attention.

As she quietly peered inside, she saw two shapes in the cab of the truck moving around, seemingly putting something on themselves that looked like clothing. Emi, on a perverted hunch, knocked on the cab, a wide grin on her face. Immediately, she heard a female yelp from within as a male voice she recognized said, "Shit!"

As expected, Hanako rolled the window down, her face redder than perhaps even the fire truck she was in as she put her bra on to cover her exposed chest. "H-Hey, uh, E-Emi-chan..."

"Did you guys have fun?" Emi then giggled, amused by the two lovers.

"We did," Hisao replied as he put on his shirt and appeared next to Hanako as she buttoned up her shirt. "A lot of fun."

"It... It was my idea," Hanako had to admit, reddening her face further. "We just got done when you knocked."

"Glad I didn't interrupt your romp," Emi replied as she opened the door to let the two out. "Don't worry. From what I've heard from the old guys, you're not the first fireman to bring their partner here for some sex, though you're probably the first female one to do it." She then showed her phone to the two. "Speaking of female and lovers, Misha-chan texted me about something at her college. Their news club that she and Shizune-chan are in wants to do a story on us."

"A story?" Hanako looked at and read the text with interest. "Ah, I see. They want us to do a story about our experiences."

"I'm all for it," Emi told her as she put her phone away. "It'll help kids like we were. We just gotta let the higher-ups in the department know about it. They'll say yes for sure."

Hanako then adjusted her shirt. "We'll discuss it more after I get back from the bathroom. Let's just say me and Hisao-kun aren't using condoms anymore. Not much of a point when you got an IUD and you've been dating for a while." She then turned to Hisao. "Isn't that right, dear?"


	4. Track Dreams

_**August 12, 2008**_

Around 2 PM, after both Emi and Hanako had arrived at the firehouse to help with Misha's report, the two let her and Shizune in through the front doors. Several paid firefighters saw this and waved over to them. The paid captain on duty, a man named Ayakazu Chiba, walked over to introduce himself. "Hello there. I'm Permanent Captain Chiba Ayakazu." He shook Misha's hand and Shizune's hand. He then signed for her, surprising her a bit. ["I am Permanent Captain Chiba Ayakazu."]

Shizune smiled and immediately signed back, ["Glad to see you know how to sign. My name is Hakamichi Shizune, and this is my girlfriend, Mikado Shiina. It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain."]

Ayakazu signed back to her, ["As to you, Hakamichi-san."] He then addressed Misha. "I believe Shizune called you her girlfriend. Are you two close?"

Shizune stifled a laugh. Misha nodded and replied back, "Like a married couple, sir." He was still a bit confused as to what that meant.

"I think what she's trying to say is that she and Hakamichi-san are dating," Emi explained to her captain, not wanting to cringe or hold back laughter anymore. Hanako turned around and began laughing quietly while Misha laughed loudly.

"Oh," the captain replied, somewhat embarrassed. "I... I didn't realize that you two were at that level. Regardless, welcome to the fire station. I believe you already know Firefighter Ibarazaki and Firefighter Ikezawa from your high school, right?"

"Indeed," Misha replied as she ended her laughter.

...

Around 3 PM, as Misha sat Emi down for an interview, the two looked around in the break room of the firehouse where they would speak. Misha then turned a camera on a tripod on to begin. "Okay, that's on. So, Ibarazaki Emi, mind telling us a bit about yourself?"

"Of course," she replied. "I was born in 1989. I am a graduate of Yamaku Academy, Class of 2008. When I was 11 years old, I was involved in an accident that robbed me of my legs and my father. I did not let my disability stop me however."

Misha smiled. "What inspired you to take up firefighting?"

"Ever since the accident," Emi explained to her. "I had always looked into it, but I assumed for many years that as a double amputee, I wouldn't have been able to do it. I continued my running career, and in fact, I'll be competing in the Paralympics this year in Beijing."

Misha was surprised to hear the news. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah," Emi replied, realizing she hadn't told the rest of the gang from Yamaku. "I don't think I told the rest of the gang aside from Rin-chan, Hisao-kun, and Hanako-chan. I'll be flying out to China on the 25th to participate. It's been a long dream of mine to run in them. I'll be running in the Women's 100m T43 and Women's 200m T43."

Misha was pleasantly surprised. "I'm glad to hear that, Emi-chan. Now, how long was the training to become a volunteer?"

"It was 120 hours," Emi replied. "Me and Hanako-chan did it over three weeks at a summertime boot camp. It was called Basic Volunteer Firefighting Operations. They also offer regular classes that are stretched out much further to accommodate daytime workers. The first 40 hours are for auxiliary volunteers, meaning those who do not enter burning buildings. The other 80 hours were for interior volunteers, those who do, like me. There are also other classes offered periodically throughout the year, like Certified First Responder, Ambulance Assistant Technician, Paramedic, Advanced Volunteer Firefighting Operations, Vehicle Rescue Technician, Hazmat Technician, and so on."

"That sounds like a lot," Misha noted, writing down in a notepad. "I must say, you seem very committed."

"You have to be," Emi replied back. "Even though we're volunteers, we treat this just as seriously as the paid firefighters here, and that means never stopping training. The minute you stop training is the minute you stop being a fire-" Both were then interrupted by the sounds of pagers ringing. "Huh?"

"Is there an emergency?" Misha then turned around and signed to Shizune to let her know what was going on, to which she replied with a thumbs-up.

"Yeah," Emi replied as she quickly removed her lapel mic and ran to the gear lockers as information poured in over the radio about the call. Hanako nearby followed closely behind her. "It's a fire!" Emi shouted back to her as she and Hanako quickly got their gear on. As they did, the siren on top of the firehouse roared to life.

Misha and Shizune moved their equipment outside to catch the firefighters responding, their cameras rolling the whole time. Hanako said to Ayakazu, "Are me and Emi-chan hopping on the Aerial or staying here to get on the Chemical rig?"

"Get on the Aerial," he replied. "You two need fire experience." The three of them then ran to Aerial 51, Ayakazu grabbing an air pack from the front left seat and putting in on as Hanako and Emi hopped in the back. The crew would be a paid firefighter driving, Ayakazu, and three volunteers in the back.

Emi asked, "Instructions?" Hanako and Emi excitedly but calmly strapped into their air packs.

"We're gonna roll two lines out," Ayakazu replied to her. "It sounds like we're gonna go to work, so mask up before we get off."

"On it," she replied. Within a minute and a half of the call coming in, the Aerial sped out of the firehouse. Hanako and Emi both began to put their masks on. After they finished, they both put their helmets on and turned their air packs on.

The other volunteer, an older firefighter around 30, turned to Emk and said to her with his mask and helmet on, "You're coming with me! Ikezawa-san, go with the captain!"

"On it," Emi replied with a thumbs-up. She and Hanako then gave a hi-five to each other through their gloves.

Ayakazu then turned around to the crew behind him and told them as they grabbed radios, "We got a chief on scene with fire showing! I want two lines rolled out, one going to the front and the other going to the rear!"

"On it," replied the other volunteer. Within another minute, Aerial 51 arrived to a house that was heavily involved with fire on the first floor. Hanako and Ayakazu stepped out of the truck and grabbed two rolls of hose each, rolling them out as Hanako breathed heavily through her mask, not yet hooked into her air pack.

"I got the nozzle," Hanako yelled to Ayakazu as Chief 50-Charlie ran up to him and instructed him of his findings. Once both of her rolls of hose were rolled out, she connected them and then ran down to the other end of the hoses to attach the nozzle while the driver of the engine hooked the line up to pump. Ayakazu also rolled out his hoses and hooked into Hanako's two lengths of hose, creating a single line of hose. "Everything's all set!"

"Got it," he replied as he clipped his mask into his pack, breathing in pack air. "Okay, we'll go in the front! The front door is already open for us! I want the line charged before we go in due to the heavy fire!"

Hanako nodded and radioed, "Aerial 51, charge the Red Line! Charge the Red Line! We're going in!"

"Here comes your water," the driver replied as he charged their line with water.

Hanako then slightly cracked open the nozzle to get the air out of the hose before closing it back up. "Here we go!" She and Ayakazu then advanced, spraying the fire down with water the whole way and darkening it down. As they got to the doorway, they got down on their knees and crawled as the thick black smoke and intense heat hit both of them.

"You got heavy fire to the right of you," Ayakazu told her as he tapped her on the shoulder and fed her hose. "Hit it before we go any further!"

"Got it," Hanako replied as she aimed the nozzle at a side room next to the front hallway and quickly knocked the fire down in there. She then advanced into the room to hit the fire more, staying in the doorway and effectively extinguishing the fire inside.

"Hanako," Ayakazu told her as he moved around her. "I'm gonna search this room! Stay here and keep hitting the fire while I do! I got nothing on the TIC, but I wanna make sure!"

"Got it," she replied as Ayakazu began performing a right-hand search while holding his thermal imaging camera.

Meanwhile, in the back of the house, Emi and the other volunteer had been hitting the fire in the kitchen of the house. The fire was less intense in that part of the house. Emi backed up the other volunteer on the nozzle, and split off from him to conduct a search of the kitchen. As she did a right-hand search, she felt around her with her left hand in a semi-circle, searching quickly but thoroughly. "I got nothing, Shinozaki-san!"

"Got it," he replied. "Come back to the hose and we'll advance further inside! The crew from Pumper 52 should be going in to do the primary search for us soon!"

Emi replied, "Got it!" She then returned behind him and humped hose as he crawled into the living room and began knocking more of the fire down through the thick and blinding smoke. She thought to herself, _"This is amazing! Doing it for real is so much better than in training!"_


	5. Truckies

**_August 16, 2008_**

In what could possibly be the second working structure fire in a week in Shichigahama, Emi and Hanako ran to the firehouse as the siren roared to life. The two had been nearby talking with a neighbor who was interested in joining as an auxiliary volunteer firefighter when the call came in, a report of a fire at a fish market in the northeast of the town. Two smaller substations were also going, Station 58 and Station 57. The call was from within the fish market, reporting a microwave that had caught fire and had spread to a tent adjoining the building and rapidly spreading. There had also been a fire alarm activation inside the building as well.

Station 51 would wait for a few volunteers before rolling, since it would be going for Aerial 51 and Ambulance 51. Emi and Hanako were the first to run in, quickly putting their gear on when they got to their lockers. Ayakazu, who was on-duty as the captain for his shift, shouted over to them, "Get on the Aerial! Hurry up! Once we get you two, we're going!"

Once the two were dressed, they ran to Aerial 51 and grabbed air packs from the back seats of the rig, putting them on outside before climbing aboard. Once they were ready, Aerial 51 rolled out, rolling 3:15 after the call was sent out. Emi asked the captain, "What's the status on the fire?" Since it was not in their first-due, they would not mask up on the truck.

"Nothing yet," Ayakazu replied to her. "No units are on scene from anyone. Nothing from the other two firehouses has even rolled yet! It's just us, Chief 50-Alpha, and Chief 50-Charlie."

Hanako said to herself in some frustration, "Shit, we'll have to pick up the slack when we get there." She then donned her gloves and turned her air pack on.

"Pumper 58 is responding with a crew of 5, 2 interior," Pumper 58 called over the radio with, earning a groan from Emi.

"Pumper 57's on the way with 5, 3 interior!"

"They rolled before the 4-minute mark," the only paid firefighter in the back said to Hanako and Emi. "Not bad."

"But they only got five interiors between them," Emi replied to him. "We may have to back them up inside instead of doing ventilation and 2-in-2-out."

"Miyagi District Fire Control to Chief 50-Alpha," Dispatch radioed out. "We have an officer on the scene from Sendai Prefectural PD with flames showing from the building itself."

"Received," Chief 50-Alpha replied over the radio. "Declare a Signal 99."

"Signal 99 declared at 12:34," dispatch replied.

Hanako was confused as to what Signal 99 meant. "What's that mean?"

"It was the old code for a working fire," Ayakazu explained to her. "Nowadays we're supposed to use plain Japanese due to the merger in 1999, but sometimes the old-timers will break out the old Signal codes over the radio. Everyone still knows what it means, anway."

At 12:38, eight minutes after the fire came in, Aerial 51 pulled up. Pumper 58 had just pulled up a minute earlier, and Pumper 57 had pulled up behind Aerial 51, which took the front of the building. Both of the interior firefighters on Pumper 58 were masked up and rolling out a line of hose, while Pumper 57's crew was doing the same without masks on. Hanako and Emi stepped off Aerial 51 and grabbed a ground ladder, carrying it to the side of the building and throwing it up to a window on the second floor as the fire raged nearby.

Ayakazu yelled to them, "Get another ladder from the Aerial truck and raise it to the roof! You two are going up there to vent! They think the fire spread to the second floor!"

"On it," Hanako yelled back to him. She then turned to Emi and told her, "After we get the other ladder, I'll grab the chainsaw, and you'll grab the trash hook!"

The two then ran back to the Aerial and grabbed the second ladder, repeating the same process over again but raising the ladder to the roof. Once they were done, they ran back again to grab the necessary tools and headed back over. Once back over, Emi bent down and started up the chainsaw on the ground. "Alright, it works!" She then shut it off as Hanako went up the ladder first, followed by Emi, both carrying their tools.

Once they got to the top, Hanako used the trash hook to feel the roof and see if it was safe to climb onto. "It's good! It's good!" Hanako then stepped onto the rather flat roof of the fish market. As they did, she heard them begin to attack the fire over the radio. "Emi-chan, hurry! They're attacking the fire! We gotta make some vent holes!"

"Yeah," Emi replied as she climbed up to the roof and retstarted the chainsaw with a rip of the rip cord. She then pointed to a spot and said to Hanako, "I'll cut there first! Once the smoke gets thick, we gotta stop and mask up!"

"On it," Hanako replied. Emi then began her first cut, making three deep incisions into the roof as the loud chainsaw revved up and cut. As the deafening sound of the chainsaw filled their ears, the heat was intense, and smoke began pouring out of the cuts made. Then, Emi made a fourth cut, making a square for Hanako to punch out and make a bigger hole. "I'll punch it!" Hanako then punched out a hole with the cut using the trash hook, exposing the thick smoke below.

"Mask up," Emi told her as she turned her chainsaw off and set it next to her, her right leg holding it from sliding off the roof as she used both of her hands to put her mask on and start breathing pack air. Hanako did the same, setting her took down to go on air. "Ready?!"

"Yeah," Hanako replied through her mask. "Which cut's next?!"

"Here," Emi pointed out to another spot nearby. The two then walked over, Hanako sounding the roof with every step with her trash hook. Once they got to their spot, Emi turned the chainsaw back on and began making her four cuts. Sure enough, thick smoke and high heat poured out of it as well, and Hanako punched the hole made by the cuts out with the trash hook to let out more smoke. Then, Emi turned to the first hole they made and let out, "Holy shit!" Flames were now jumping from the first hole they had made, surprising both of them.

"One more cut?!" Hanako pointed out a place where they could possibly make a third cut.

"Why not?! It won't hurt!" Emi then revved up her chainsaw again as she made four more cuts. Once she was done, Hanako punched a hole out with her trash hook. "Alright, now, lets get the hell off the roof!" She then shut her chainsaw off.

"Yeah," Hanako nodded back as they made their way to the ground ladder back down to the ground. "That was awesome!" As Emi climbed down first, Hanako followed soon after. As they climbed down, Hanako radioed out, "Roof to Command, we're coming down! We made three cuts on the roof!"

"Received," Car 50-Alpha replied.

...

"So Shizune-chan can drive perfectly fine?" Lilly was intrigued to know of Shizune's driving abilities as they made their way to Hanako's house.

"Indeed," Misha confirmed to her. "Deaf and other hard of hearing people can drive just like me and... Well, me." She had momentarily forgotten that Lilly was blind, embarrassing her. "Sorry."

Lilly just laughed it off. "It's fine, Shiina-chan. Anyway, how is her dri-"

Suddenly, the car came to an abrupt stop as Shizune floored the brake and slammed on the horn to a driver in a red Toyota who cut her off and almost hit her. Misha yelled out, "What the fuck, dude?!"

Lilly, who had no idea what happened, asked Misha, "What the hell was that?!"

"Some asshole in a red Toyota almost hit us," Misha told her. "And lets just say Shizune isn't telling the driver she has a brother named Hideaki when she's signing to him." Indeed, Shizune angrily verbalized a yell and signed furiously to the driver, flipping him off.

Lilly, recognizing that the Japanese sign for brother was also the middle finger, immediately got Misha's joke and gave a chuckle. She then rolled down her window and yelled in what she thought was the direction of the Toyota, "WATCH IT, ASSHOLE!" She then turned back around and asked Misha, "Please tell me I yelled that in the right direction."

"You did," Misha replied. "I gotta say, I think Shicchan's temper may be a bigger threat to her driving than her deafness." Shizune gave her an annoyed glare in response, having read her lips. "Eheheheh... Sorry, babe." Misha signed the same thing to her as well, as she usually did.

When they pulled up to Hanako and Hisao's house, the time was around 8:30 PM. As Lilly grabbed her walking cane, she got out of the car, with Shizune helping her. Lilly signed on Shizune's right hand, ["Thank you."]

Shizune smiled and signed back to her on her left hand, ["Of course."]

Hanako, Emi, Rin, and Hisao waved to the three of them, all giving them verbal greetings. Misha waved back and greeted them all with, "Hello, everybody!" She then revealed a familiar board game in her hands. "I brought Risk!"

"Of course you did," Hisao replied in some lighthearted annoyance. "Anyway, come this way!"

...

Later on in the night, after the whole gang had taken in a few drinks, the atmosphere at the house became more loose as they all spoke about their current activities and lives. "If all goes to plan," Misha told the group. "Me and Shicchan will be graduating in six years. Teaching has always been a dream of mine, and Shicchan got really interested in it after we met."

"Not too bad of a career choice," Rin replied as she sipped from a glass of wine with a straw. "I must say, I would have found school much more exciting with you as a teacher, Misha-chan."

Emi then raised her glass and told the whole group, "I got an idea. What if we all did truth or dare?"

Lilly, somewhat apprehensive about the idea, suggested to the gang around the table, "Uh, maybe something else?"

"No," Misha adamantly replied. "Let's do it! I bet you can't beat me at this!" She then let out one of her trademark hearty laughs.

"I'm in," Hisao affirmed. "Who wants to start?"

"Perhaps I... Perhaps I will," Hanako began, surprising the entire group. "What? Why i-is that su-surprising?"

"You're not usually this forward," Misha told her as Shizune signed the same thing to her.

"I've grown," Hanako replied to them. "I'm not a scared little girl anymore. Anyway, uh... Okay, can we also do like never have I ever too in addition to truth or dare?"

"Exactly," Misha added. "That'll make the game more fun!"

"Fine then," Emi replied. "We'll throw that in, too."

"Okay," Hanako began. "I'll do a Never one first. Never have I ever... Never have I ever kissed my best friend." As expected, Hisao and Hanako and Misha and Shizune raised their hands, but to the surprise of everyone around them, everyone else raised their hands, causing mass confusion and annoyance. "What the hell?"

"Oh no," Rin said to herself.

Lilly, blind, asked, "Who else raised their hands?"

"Everyone," Hanako told her. "This... This is awkward." She sighed and shook her head. "Lilly, I think we have some confessing to do."

"We all do," Rin added. "By the looks of it, we all got some confessing to do."

Hisao, worried, asked Hanako, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," she told him to soothe his concerns. "Bear with us for a second."


	6. Awkward Confessions

"So," Hisao addressed the entire group at large after taking a deep breath, ready to state a lengthy explanation. "Starting from the top, Hanako-chan and Lilly-chan somewhat had sex while drunk one night at Yamaku. However, this is not the first time Lilly has had sex with a girl, as she once had it with Shizune-chan despite the two being cousins, resulting in them breaking off their friendship for a while until recently. Meanwhile, Misha dated Emi in the past, which was already known by us, but Emi also had sex with Rin once when the two experimented with acid." He then took another deep breath, having gone through the entire summary of what had transpired in a single breath. "Hanako, I must ask, did I forget anything?"

The entire circle was red in the face from their confessing, though Hanako was the least red. "N-no, you d-didn't." The entire gang was silent for a good minute, at a loss for words. Hisao was concerned that he had just witnessed the beginnings of a fight and the ending of many friendships.

Lilly had buried her face in her palms, saying to herself in Scots, "Och mah God... Wa... Wa thes?" She then took a deep breath through her nose. "Ah swear tae Christ..." She switched back to Japanese as she began to unpack what had transpired. "This night has been, well, interesting."

Rin, who was for once rather straightforward with her emotions, expressed to the group, "So what?"

Emi turned to her, wondering what she had meant. "Rin-chan, what is it?"

"So what if all that happened?" She then did her best shrug with what she had of her arms. "It's all in the past. We've all clearly moved on from then."

Shizune nodded and signed to Misha, who agreed with a nod and said to the group in Shizune's place, "Ricchan is right. It is all in the past, and that's coming from both me and Shicchan."

Shizune then turned to Lilly and took her hand, signing in it, ["Don't worry about it. Lilly, it's fine."]

Lilly smiled as she signed back to her in Shizune's hand, ["Thank Christ. I thought things were going to devolve to fighting here."]

"What matters is that nobody was cheating on anyone," Rin rather bluntly put it with a slight smirk on her face, clearly trying to ease the tension. "Sure, the whole cousins thing is a bit weird, but it's not like I'm in a position to judge." The whole room then erupted into laughter, a sign that the tension from before had successfully defused.

In an instant, however, the mood would change rather drastically. The laughter was interrupted by the sound of a pager ringing from the next room over. Emi and Hanako both got up to grab Hanako's pager as it then squawked out, "Miyagi District Fire Control to Station 51, Station 53, and Chief 50, respond to 5-choume-2-66 Shiomidai, 5-choume-2-66 Shiomidai, for a reported structure fire. Time is 22:06."

Hisao, somewhat worried since they both had had a glass of wine, asked Hanako, "Are you two sure you wanna go? You did drink some wine."

"We'll be fine," Hanako assured him as they both bolted out the front door. By now, the siren from the firehouse nearby was roaring, and the gang all heard Hanako's car start before they heard the screeching of wheels and the car speed off to the firehouse.

Hisao sighed and smiled, thinking to himself, _"It's so nice to see her so energetic."_

As Hanako and Emi pulled into the parking lot about two minutes later, Aerial 51 left with the five paid firefighters on board, the roaring firehouse siren dying down as the fire engine sped off inro the night. The two of them ran in through a side door and quickly grabbed their gear, putting it on. They were the first volunteers to arrive from home, there having been two other volunteers at the station already. As they finished their coats, another volunteer rode his bicycle into the station, quickly followed by another car pulling up. Hanako said to Hiroto, "Is it a Signal 99 yet?"

"Not quite yet," he replied as he was putting his pack on next to the officer's seat of Chemical 51. As he sat up in the seat, his driver, an older volunteer, started up the motor with the push of a button. Hanako and Emi quickly donned their air packs and then stepped back into the four-man crew cab in the back as two more volunteers ran in and Car 50-Bravo sped past the station, lights and sirens going at full speed.

Aerial 51 then somewhat frantically radioed in, "Aerial 51 to Fire Control, we're arriving, Signal 99 upon arrival! I got heavy fire showing from the Alpha-Bravo corner on the first floor!"

Emi nodded to Hanako as two more firefighters hopped on. She told her, "Two fires in one day is really unusual."

Hiroto then radioed in as Chemical 51 left the station, "Chemical 51's responding with a crew of six, five interior." It had been about five minutes since the call came in.

Around 10:13 PM, Chemical 51 arrived and pulled behind Aerial 51. By now, two lines had already gone in, and as the crew disembarked, Chief 50-Alpha ran over to them. "Captain Gasai! Captain Gasai! I need you and two others to go in and do a primary search on the second floor! We got reports there's people still up there."

As Hiroto took his helmet off and put his mask on, he asked the chief, "Any idea where they are or how many?"

"No," he replied. He then ran back over and called to another unit on his portable radio.

"Firefighters Ibarazaki and Ikezawa," Hiroto called over to his crew. "Mask up and follow me! We're searching the second floor!"

Emi called back, "Got it." She then set her axe down and took her helmet off to mask up while Hanako set her sledgehammer down and did the same. Once the two were ready, they ran over to Hiroto as he prepared to make entry through the front door. Once all three were ready, they clipped their masks into their SCBA and proceeded in, the thick smoke instantly reducing the visibility to zero.

After about a minute of searching, the three of them managed to find the stairwell to the second floor. Hanako, who took to the front, yelled over to Hiroto and Emi, "Here! The stairs are here!" She then began to carefully climb up the stairs, sounding each step with her tool before crawling up and keeping her feet wide and to the walls for support in case the stairs gave way. As Hanako's reaches the top of the stairs, she pointed to the right into a bedroom door and yelled to Hiroto and Emi, "I'll force this in!" As Emi and Hiroto reached the top, Hanako smashed the wooden door in with her sledgehammer several times, the fourth time enough to make it budge.

Hiroto then directed, "Ibarazaki-san, smash that window out!" Emi nodded and smashed out a window that faced the stairs with her axe to vent out the smoke as Hanako entered the room first to the right, followed by Emi to the left. Hiroto stayed behind in the doorway and scanned the room with a thermal imaging camera.

"FIRE DEPARTMENT," Emi shouted in a shrill voice to make herself heard. "CALL OUT! HELLO?! IF YOU CAN HEAR US, CALL OUT!" As she moved around a dresser, she felt a window and called out, "I got a window!" She then reached around a gap between a dresser and a bed, feeling something soft and dragging it. As soon as she dragged, she was able to see that she had dragged a person. "Holy shit! HANAKO-CHAN, I FOUND SOMEONE!"

Hanako yelled back from the other side of the bed, "I DID, TOO!" She then turned back to Hiroto and yelled to him, "CAPTAIN, WE GOT TWO VICTIMS!"

"Got it," he replied. He then radioed, "Search to Command, we got two victims in the bedroom upstairs! Do you have a ladder to the front bedroom?! Both of these gotta go out the second floor on the Alpha side!"

"We're raising one up right now," Chief 50-Alpha replied.

"Received," he replied over the radio. He then yelled to Hanako and Emi, "We're taking them out by ladder!"

"I got a window at the front," Hanako replied. "I'll drag my victim there and smash it out!" She then dragged her victim to the window, which was not too far from the foot of the bed, and used her sledgehammer to smash it out. "I got a little girl! She was under the bed, and she's unresponsive!"

"I think I got her brother," Emi replied. "He's coughing up a bit." Emi then dragged her victim to the same window by his clothes as Hiroto entered the room. Emi, noticing the smoke was pouring out the window, took her helmet off and placed her mask on the boy's face, coughing as she took in smoke. After a few breaths, she shoved her mask back on her face for a few breaths to get fresh air, and then put it back on the boy's face.

Hanako reached out and grabbed the top rung of the ladder being raised to her window, guiding it in. Then, a firefighter rapidly climbed up the ladder and extended his arms. "Here! Here she is!" Hanako then handed the girl down to him, and he began to rapidly climb down the ladder with her in his hands.

Meanwhile, Emi reached out the window, her mask still off, as she coughed out and puked our the window to the ground below, taking several deep breaths of fresh air as she put her helmet back on. She yelled out, "Hurry it up! He's slipping away! I got my mask on him!"

Another firefighter ran up the ladder to her, and Emi quickly handed the boy to him, taking her mask back. After she did, she took her helmet off, spit out the window away from the ladder, and put her mask back on, having taken in quite a bit of smoke as a result. Hanako said to her, "Emi, are you alright?"

"Yeah," she replied with a thumbs-up. "Let's go!"

...

At the hospital around 2 in the morning, Emi had gotten a quick checkup along with several other injured firefighters, and was in the process of being discharged. As she sat in her hospital room, her mother by her side, she thought of the brother and sister she and Hanako had rescued. Her mother, Meiko, asked her to break the silence, "How are they?"

"I don't know," Emi replied in dismay. "I know they are indeed brother and sister. The boy was 7 and the girl was 4. That's the worst part, not knowing. I bet the firemen who rescued me and dad were feeling the same way before they found out." She then nodded slightly as she looked down at her leg stumps. She had had her artificial legs taken off so she could wash her stumps, something she did after every working fire or other long-duration call. "Thanks for staying late, mom."

"It's the least I could do for my little hero," Meiko happily replied with a smile. Emi blushes slightly, somewhat embarrassed by her mother's praise, but also feeling good about it.

Then, the doctor watching her walked in. "Ibarazaki-san, you're all set to go, but before you do, I got an update about the victims you and your colleague saved. They're both still alive. The boy is stable, but the girl is in intensive care. If you two hadn't gotten to them when you did, they would be dead right now." He then nonchalantly handed her a form. "Just sign here for the discharge."

As Emi blankly signed the form, the full force of what she had done set in. As the doctor walked out, she said to herself, "Holy shit..."


	7. A Broken Arm

**_August 18, 2008_**

Ambulance 51 arrived at a small warehouse in Shichigahama with a crew of three on board, including Emi, who would be leaving for Beijing tomorrow, and was riding along on the ambulance to assist the two paid firefighters. The call was for a reported arm injury with a possible fracture. As the ambulance arrived, they found that two volunteers from Station 54 were already on scene in their personal vehicles.

As the three of them walked in, pulling a stretcher with medical equipment on it, they were met by the two volunteers, who had already splinted the man's left arm and were getting a blood pressure on the man's other arm. As one volunteer continued his assessment, the other volunteer, an older man, approached them and gave them a rundown. "Okay, we have a 26-year-old male. According to himself and his other workers, he backed into a wall with a power jack and tried to use his left arm to stop himself, breaking it. He has a compound fracture to his left forearm, and it's hemorrhaging pretty badly, so we wrapped him up, slapped a tourniquet on, and got him in a vacuum splint. We also got him on oxygen via a non-rebreather. We're using all of my own personal supplies right now." Sure enough, there was a giant pool of blood before the patient that had been partially wiped up with towels.

"Got it," the firefighter-paramedic in charge of the ambulance replied. "What are his vitals?"

"Heart rate of 120," he replied. "Breathing rate is 22. My partner is getting a BP right now, but I imagine that's high, too. It isn't necessarily shock as it is just him in a lot of pain and being extremely stressed out, but we threw him on O2 just in case. Out of 10, he rated his pain a 9, and I don't blame him."

"Thank you," he replied. "Probie, ready the backboard and the stretcher."

"Got it," Emi replied as she began to take equipment off the stretcher. She first took off a giant red bag of equipment, followed by a cardiac monitor and a clipboard, and then the backboard itself. As she put the backboard together, the other two firefighters began to perform their own treatment of the patient.

"BP is 150 over 90," the other volunteer told them as he took off his BP cuff to let them do their own work. "What do you need grabbed from your bag?"

"IV kit and the cardiac monitor," the paramedic of the crew instructed. "I'm gonna give him pain meds." He then turned to the patient himself. "Hey there, sir. My name is Uehara Takashi, and my partners are Aizawa Daiichi and Ibarazaki Emi. We're gonna bring you to the hospital, okay?"

The other volunteer and Emi then brought over the IV kit and the cardiac monitor. The IV kit was a giant red box that contained all the medications that a paramedic could give, as well as needles and the like. The cardiac monitor, in addition to keeping track of a patient's heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, SpO2, and heart rhythm, also came with a built-in defibrillator and a radio phone. As they got the monitor set up, the patient moaned in pain and told them, "Oh fuck, I've never been in this much pain before."

"I know, I know," Takashi replied to him. "I'm gonna call the hospital so I can give you some pain medication, alright? Now, before I do anything, do you feel nauseous at all?"

"No," the patient replied. "Not that."

"Okay," Takashi replied. "Ibarazaki-san, grab the O2 bottle from our red bag and convert the non-rebreather to that tank." He then turned to the older volunteer. "I figured we'd let you have your bottle back." The two then shared a quick laugh. "As a matter of fact, when we come back from the hospital, I'll make sure we grab extra supplies for you and drop it off at Station 54. Can you just write your phone number on the PCR sheet so I can call you?"

"Yeah," the older volunteer replied as he grabbed the PCR clipboard and wrote his number down. "I wrote down my cell and my home phone. If I don't answer on one of those, try the other one."

Then, the paramedic instructed his Ambulance Assistant Technician-certified partner, Daiichi, "Hey, Daiichi-kun, I'm gonna call the hospital. Can you set up the 12-lead, the automatic BP, and the SpO2 for me?" As he and Emi got the cardiac monitor and the other oxygen tank set up, he grabbed the radio phone from the back of the cardiac monitor and punched in a 5-digit hospital code. "Sendai Medical Center, this is Shiogama Union Fire Department Ambulance 51."

"Ambulance 51, go ahead," a nurse replied on the other end of the radio.

"Requesting Medical Control," the paramedic instructed. "We have a 26-year old male with a traumatic injury to his left arm caused by an industrial accident involving a power jack. He has a compound fracture and hemorrhaging." As he said that, the first set of vitals came in through the cardiac monitor.

"Received," the nurse replied before she punched in a 5-digit code of her own. "Sendai Medical Center Receiving to Sendai Medical Center Medical Control."

"Go ahead," a doctor replied on the radio this time.

"Shiogama Union Ambulance 51, go ahead," the nurse said to give the go-ahead.

"Thank you," the paramedic replied. "This is Ambulance 51 of the Shiogama Union Fire Department. We have a 26-year old male with a traumatic injury to his left forearm caused by an industrial accident involving a power jack. He has a compound fracture and had severe hemorrhaging. We have him on vacuum splints, a tourniquet, and oxygen via a non-rebreather at 15 liters per minute. We also applied various bandages and pressure dressings before applying the tourniquet, at which point the hemorrhaging from his left arm ceased. Most recent vital signs per our cardiac monitor and pulse ox are a heart rate of 132, a breathing rate of 22, a blood pressure of 154 over 96, an SpO2 of 97, and we are currently transmitting the heart rhythm to you as we speak. He is a lot of pain, and when volunteer first responders came here and assessed him, he told them that out of a pain scale of 10, he was at a 9. Do you wish for me to start administering painkillers, and which painkillers at what doses?" In the background of his transmission was a radio tone that was the transmission of the heart rhythm through telemetry.

"Affirmative," the doctor very quickly affirmed, realizing the patient was in severe distress. "Administer morphine at .05 milligrams per kilogram via IV, and repeat the dose every 5 minutes if necessary up to 10 milligrams of morphine. Additionally, you can also administer fentanyl at 1 to 1.5 micrograms per kilogram via IV, IN, or IM, and repeat the dose every 5 minutes if necessary up to 200 micrograms. Contact me for any further instructions or questions."

"Received, administering morphine," Takashi replied as he grabbed the IV kit and began to pull a needle and the required medication out as the automatic BP cuff was taken off of the patient's right arm. As all of this was going on, Emi largely watched the proceedings in front of her, having not yet possessed any medical training beyond first aid. "Okay," Takashi told the patient. "I'm gonna put this needle in your arm, okay? I got approval from a doctor to give you some morphine and fentanyl to deal with that pain you got. Stay still and relax your right arm for me so I can find a vein."

The patient weakly nodded. "Yeah, yeah, do it. Oh fuck, it fucking hurts."

* * *

About an hour and a half later, Ambulance 51 arrived back at the station, having traveled around 20 minutes lights and sirens to Sendai Medical Center and then 30 minutes back after restocking and cleaning, followed by Takashi dropping off extra medical supplies at Station 54. As Emi got out, she wiped her forehead of sweat, almost ready to seemingly pass out from heat exhaustion. "Holy shit..."

Takashi passed her and looked at her, asking, "Huh? Ibarazaki-san, are you okay?" He then remembered something that may have caused her distress. "Wait, don't tell me I forgot the AC in the back."

"Yeah," Emi nodded as she took a deep breath. "I thought I was gonna pass out for a sec back there when we were coming back. You got water?"

Takashi immediately felt bad for her and chuckled. "Oh my God, I am... I am so sorry, Ibarazaki-san."

"I got her some water," another volunteer replied as he threw it to Emi, who quickly caught it before practically ripping the cap off and downing half of the bottle.

Takashi then looked in the back of the ambulance, which was still open. "I'll go get that PCR done on the computer. Take a rest, probie. You need it."

* * *

Later that day, around 6:30 P.M., Hanako and a few other volunteers prepared for an informal drill at the firehouse. At the four-story drill tower in the back of the firehouse, the six of them, including a brand new firefighter who hadn't yet gone through the Basic Auxiliary/Interior Volunteer Firefighter course, all gathered in their gear and in air packs with two hose bundles before them. A volunteer fire sergeant, named Kado Umezawa, led the drill. "Okay, so, tonight, we'll do a short little drill with this little portable pump here we have for the auxiliaries." He then pointed to a small portable pump trailer nearby. "We will have three teams of two each climb up all four levels of the training tower on air with one hose bundle, come back down, and then deploy the hose line by connecting it to the pump trailer and flowing water. The teams will be myself and Probationary Auxiliary Firefighter Aozora Sainoji, Interior Firefighter Yukimura Yosai and Interior Firefighter Kurokawa Senzo, and finally, Sergeant Amisaki Yakumo and Probationary Interior Firefighter Ikezawa Hanako. Once a team comes down from the tower, the next team up can begin. Each firefighter on the team will alternate between each other for carrying the hose bundle. With that, let's go. Aozora-san, come on!" He and Sainoji then took their helmets off and masked up to get ready.

As they did their drill, Hanako and the others watched. It took about two minutes for the two of them to go up and down the tower, and when they hit the bottom, the next team of two got ready to begin. As they went up, Hanako turned to Yakumo, a man about 25 with black hair, and asked, "Se-Sergeant, who do you want to carry up the hose? I can carry it up if you want."

"Sure," Yakumo replied. "Looks like they're on the last flight down. Let's get ready." Hanako and him then took their helmets and gloves off to put their masks on, and then put their helmets and gloves back on before turning their SCBAs on and clipping their masks into air.

Hanako picked up the hose bundle and put it on her shoulder as she made her way up, Yakumo close behind. As they climbed up the four flights of stairs in the summer heat in all of their bulky and hot gear, Hanako saw the first team of two begin to break down their hose to let her and Yakumo take over. Once they got to the top, Hanako handed the bundle off to the sergeant, and the two began to slowly climb back down. As they reached the ground, Hanako told him, "I'll take the nozzle when we get there!"

"Right on," Yakumo replied as they then walked over to the trailer pump. Once they both got there, Yakumo laid the bundle down and let Hanako break up the straps holding it together before taking the nozzle and deploying the hose as he connected it to the pump. For the drill, they would spray into the woods behind the firehouse. As Hanako finished untwirling the hose and removing as many knots as she could, she pointed and spun her left index finger around to signal for water.

She shouted to him, "Charge the line, Sarge!" Yakumo gave a thumbs-up and opened a valve to let water flow into her line. After a slight kick in the hose, Yakumo backed her up as she opened up on the nozzle and took several steps forward. They flowed water for about a minute, the rush of air caused by the current slightly cooling down the two of them. After about a minute, Hanako turned the nozzle off and put the line down. "Alright, time to break the line down."


	8. Arrival in Beijing

**_August 27, 2008_**

The regular 2008 Olympics had just ended three days ago, but now the focus would be the Paralympics, meaning that there was still much work to be done for the games on September 6. Emi would be training with the other Japanese athletes until then, ensuring she would be ready for her two events.

At the Olympic Village around night time, the door to Emi's apartment suddenly burst open as the girl herself as well as another athlete, a male with blond hair and red eyes, staggered into the room together. She said to him in English as the two sat down on the bed together, "You're so wasted right now."

The man replied in a Scottish accent, "Tough talk coming from you." He then moved in close to her face and told her, "Say, what was it you were suggesting anyway, lass?"

"That you rip these clothes off me," Emi began in a rather seductive tone. "And fuck me like an animal, Ethan." She then undid her legs and let them fall to the floor with two thuds. As she took her shirt off, she chuckled a bit and told him, "They're not much to look at, but they're there." Next, she undid her hair ties. "Do you know how to undo a bra?"

"Yeah," Ethan confidently replied. In reality, he had never had to do it before. _"Okay, Ethan Howell, you got this. You got this!" _He then began his attempt at taking her bra off. It took a minute, but after that, it fell off to the bed. _"Thank God!"_

"Good job," Emi congratulated him. "Now, lay down on the bed." The girl then gently pushed him onto the bed, lying on his back, before climbing on top of him. "Get ready."

"You bet I am," Ethan gladly replied as the two began to slowly grow closer to each other. For the next hour, the two would have rather loud sex until they both passed out and fell asleep together.

...

Back in Japan, Shizune and Misha had just finished their own lovemaking session that night. As the two calmed down and began to relax, Shizune signed to her, "[Feels like it's getting better and better every time, even after it's been a full 9 months.]"

Misha signed back to her and spoke at the same time, "Yeah, it really has been. Shicchan, every time still feels just like the first time, and it feels amazing." She then sat up in her bed. "Anyway, Shizune, I got some news."

"[News? What kind of news?]" Shizune was curious as to the news her girlfriend was describing.

"They're looking into hiring part-time fire dispatchers," Misha explained to her as she stretched her back. "You'd be hired provisionally as one until you take the test and pass with a 75% or higher in January. I go in for an interview on the 29th after college classes end for the day. I figured it would be a nice way to make some money. I'd be working at least 8 hours per week, with an average of 16 hours per week, making 2000 an hour, so I think it would be a nice opportunity for me."

**(A/N: At the time this story took place, 2000 was a little over 18.)**

"[Never knew they had part-time fire dispatchers]" Shizune signed, surprised. "[Are you sure you can get into that?]"

"If I wasn't sure," Misha gleefully explained in sound and sign. "I wouldn't go for it. I'll be great at it." She then gave out one of her famous bellows of laughter.

...

Ambulance 51 arrived on scene at a seizure call in Station 51's area around 7 PM. Hanako rode as the third person on the ambulance, and they were met by another volunteer who had responded directly to the scene as they wheeled the stretcher into the house. The patient, a 22-year-old epileptic, was no longer seizing but still unconscious when they walked in, and the volunteer who had beaten them to the scene was suctioning his airway out with a portable suction device. "He had a lot of saliva and shit in there," he told them. "I'll put an OPA in, and then you guys can mask him up. I was going to get my tank refilled in my personal kit when the call came in, so I can't use it. I got a heart rate and a breathing rate, but no BP yet. Heart rate is 94, and breathing rate is 21.

"Got it," replied one of the paid firefighters, who was only an Ambulnce Assistant Technician, the level just below paramedic, as he grabbed an oxygen tank and a mask from the stretcher while Hanako got the sheets on it ready. She then pulled a blood pressure cuff, a blood glucose kit, and a stethoscope out to begin performing a blood pressure check. "You got the BP, Ikezawa-san?"

"Yeah," she replied. As she listened for a blood pressure reading, the two paid firefighters got the patient on oxygen. Then, she took her stethoscope off and said, "His bl-blood pressure is 140 ov-over 90." She then too one of the fingers on his right hand, wiped it with an alcohol prep pad, and then slightly jabbed it with a lancet to get some blood out, and then took a small bit with a test strip attached to a blood glucose monitor before applying a band-aid to the hand. "His blood glucose is 110."

"Alright then." The paid firefighter who was a medic opened up his ALS supplies and radio box and turned it on before punching in a 5-digit code. "Shiogama Union Ambulance 51 to Shiogama City Hospital." As he did, Hanako and the other paid firefighter hooked the patient up to a cardiac monitor, quickly putting a 12-lead, an SpO2, and an automatic BP cuff on him.

"Ambulance 51, go ahead," replied a nurse.

"Requesting Medical Control," the paramedic instructed. "We have a 22-year-old epileptic male who was having a seizure. He has stopped seizing and is now unconscious."

"Received," the nurse replied before she punched in a 5-digit code of her own. "Shiogama City Hospital Receiving to Sendai Medical Center Medical Control."

"Go ahead," a doctor replied on the radio this time.

"Shiogama Union Ambulance 51, go ahead," the nurse said to give the go-ahead.

"This is Ambulance 51 of the Shiogama Union Fire Department," the paramedic began. "We have a 22-year-old epileptic male who was having a seizure. He has stopped seizing and is now unconscious. We currently have him on a nonrebreather with 15 liters per minute of oxygen as well as an OPA inserted into his airway." The cardiac monitor then began transmitting directly to the hospital. "We are now getting a new set of vitals from our monitor. We have a heart rate of 96, a breathing rate of 22, a blood pressure of 144 over 92, SpO2 is reading 96%, his blood glucose is 110, and we are currently transmitting the heart rhythm to you. Do you wish for me to start administering any medications?"

"Affirmative," the doctor replied, prompting the other paid firefighter to start grabbing an IV flush and a needle from the ALS box. "Administer Midazolan at 5 milligrams through either IV or intranasal, and repeat it once in 5 minutes if there's no improvement. Contact us if you wish to administer any more."

"Received," the paramedic replied, reading back his instructions word for word. "Midazolan at 5 milligrams through either IV or intranasal, and repeat it once in 5 minutes if there's no improvement." By the time he finished, the needle was ready to go. "Thanks, guys."

As he began to look for a vein to stick the needle in, the man's girlfriend walked in. "Okay, I called his parents. Is he gonna be okay?" She was worried sick, and had been clearly crying in fear prior to the arrival of the fire department. "Please, tell me."

Hanako got up and addressed her. "Ma'am, we're doing ev-everything we c-can for him. The doctor gave us per-permission to give him some medicine through an IV. While they're doing that, ca-can I ask you some questions?"

"Sure, sure," the girlfriend replied as the two of them walked into the kitchen. Hanako ripped off a piece of paper from a notepad on the table and grabbed a pen as they sat down. "Okay, what do you need to know? I already gave one of your guys the list of medications he takes."

"Alright," Hanako replied as she wrote down notes. "When did this start happening?"

"He began seizing really bad a few minutes before I called 119," she answered. "This was worse than most times."

"Was he do-doing anything when he began sei-seizing?" Hanako went through two questioning formats known as OPQRST and SAMPLE that medical personnel often used.

"He was just talking to me one minute," the girlfriend explained. "And then he seized."

"Alright," Hanako said as she continued to take notes. "Did he complain of any pain in his bo-body before the seizure?"

"Not at all," his girlfriend shook her head.

"How long has he been diagnosed with epilepsy?"

"Since he was 11," his girlfriend explained as she wiped her face. "We've been together for 3 years, so he's told me all this in great detail." She then chuckled a bit to try to make light of the situation.

"I'm glad to hear that," Hanako added, in an attempt to make his girlfriend feel better. "My bo-boyfriend and I have been together for almost a year coming up. He doesn't have ep-epilepsy, but he has a rather serious arrythmia condition, so I know what it's like to have to prepare in case something happens. He's almost died from it before."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she replied out of sympathy. By this point, Hanako could also tell she was most likely holding back a comment on her burn scars based on the tone of her voice.

"It's fine," Hanako assured her. "He lives a relatively normal life thanks to modern medi-medicine. Anyway, how often are his seizures?"

"The minor ones are usually once every two months," she explained. "The major ones are like a once in a year thing. I've never in the three years I've dated him see him have one this bad, though, and his parents say that he's only ever had one this bad once before."

"Alright," Hanako replied as she took notes. "Now, I have a feeling you noticed the sc-scars on my f-face, and my occasional stutter, right?"

The girlfriend blushed in embarrassment. "I am so sorry, ma'am."

"It's fine," Hanako assured her with a chuckle. "I got burned when I was young, and the stutter w-was from some bullying I received for it. Look at me now, though."

"Yeah," she replied, also laughing slightly to ease the tension. "Seems like you got the last laugh on your tormentors."

"I guess I did," Hanako had to admit. "I guess I sure did."

...

**_August 28, 2008_**

"I had a lot of fun last night," Ethan said to Emi as they walked together through the Olympic village. "Sure, we both were drunker than Hell, but what I remember of it was fun."

"Same here," Emi teased. "The part I remember the most was your rather experienced motions in bed. You must have had some level of practice before me."

"I've had a girlfriend before," he admitted to her as they rounded a corner near a tree. "We just didn't have the time or the feelings anymore. I learned a lot of my stuff from her."

"She taught you well," Emi again teased him with, lightly pushing him. "Very well. I was thinking, we could get drinks again later tonight after my practice, and maybe we can have a repeat of last night. I heard you guys go through a lot of condoms during the regular Olympics."

"We do," he confirmed with a chuckle. "I banged a Chinese female athlete here three times. She was the same age as you and was a swimmer. It was just some no strings attached fun, really, and believe me, I was on the low end in terms of experiences. Remember Hope Solo?"

"The American female soccer player?" Emi was familiar with many of the names of the Olympians.

"She dragged a guy into her room the day her team won a gold medal," Ethan explained to her. "She wouldn't say who, but it was a celebrity of some kind. She and I also once bumped into couples having sex outdoors, twice, while we were just talking and walking."

Emi was taken back a bit by the details, blushing somewhat. "Holy shit... You're not kidding. Then again, I heard some noises the first night I was here, and now that I think about it, I think it was the athletes both above and below me fucking at different times of the night. Maybe us Paralympians are just as horny. I haven't let my lack of legs stop my sex life."

"You got that right," Ethan admitted. "Well, I guess I'll be off then. I'll see you later tonight, right?"

"Yeah," Emi replied as the two split ways. She waved back at him and told him, "I'll see you later!" As she continued to walk, she thought to herself, _"Emi, this is just sex. That is all it is. It isn't anything else. It can't be anything else. It cannot be anything else. It **cannot **be anything else."_

**_..._**

Meanwhile, back in Shichigahama, Hanako was putting an air pack away on Chemical 51 after it had returned from a fire alarm call. They had been cancelled en route by the paid firefighters on Aerial 51, which had not yet returned from the scene. As she checked the straps, she felt her cellphone vibrate and checked it, seeing it was Hisao. "Hello, Hisao?"

"Hanako," he said in a rather hushed tone. "How much longer are you gonna be?"

"I can leave soon if you want," Hanako replied, worried about his tone. "What's going on?"

"It's my father," he replied, his voice choking up. "He... He had a serious heart attack, like... Like worse than mine back before I came to Yamaku. He got flown to Sendai Medical Center from Taiwa." Taiwa was the rather rural hometown of the Nakai family, and was north of Sendai and Shichigahama.

Hanako gasped. "No... I'll be right over." She then hung up and ran out of the cab, closing the door. As she passed Sergeant Umezawa. "Hey, Sarge, I gotta go. Family emergency with Hisao."

"Alright," Kado replied as he gave a thumbs-up. "I'll get ya on the roll call sheet." Hanako then ran out of the station towards her car, fearing the worst about the man who had taken her in like the daughter he never had after she had met Hisao's parents.


	9. Burn

Hanako and Hisao waited in a waiting room of the Sendai Medical Center, where Hisao's father had been airlifted after his massive heart attack. As the two waited, a million thoughts raced through their heads, almost all of them involving concerns about Mr. Nakai. Hanako thought to herself as she sat, awaiting any form of news about his condition, _"Please, let him live. He gave me a father figure when I didn't have one. I don't want to lose another parent."_

Lilly and Akira rushed in soon afterwards, Akira taking her sister by the hand. Akira addressed them first, saying, "Hey guys, we heard about Nakai-san's father!"

"Akira-chan," Hanako replied, pleasantly surprised to see her back in Japan. "You're back."

"I'm in Japan for a week on business," Akira explained. "Funny how that works, huh? I get transferred to Scotland from Japan only to return here on a business trip."

"Anyway," Lilly replied as she carefully sat down next to Hanako. "We wanted to be here for you guys. I know Hisao-kun's father is close to you, Hanako, and it's awful that this happened to him."

"Speaking of," Hisao noted to the three of them. "My mom should be here soon. She's a bit delayed since they're further away from the hospital than we were."

"I think she's here," Akira pointed out to Hisao as they all (except for Lilly for obvious reasons) saw his mom come running down to them.

"Hisao!" She then ran up and hugged him, surprising him a bit but being welcomed with and intense hug back. She also hugged Hanako as well. "Any news on him?"

"I'- I'm a- afraid n- not," Hanako shook her head, both in sadness at Hisao's father'a situation and out of frustration for her stutter coming back. "There's been n- no updates." _"God fucking damn it," _she thought to herself. _"Why is it coming out now of all times?"_

"Hanako-chan," Lilly asked of her as she felt her shoulder, worried about her stutter. "Are you okay? The stutter is coming back."

"I'm fine," Hanako replied to her as she held her hand. "Lilly-chan, it's n- not as b- bad as i- it s- s- sounds-" She then sighed in frustration and annoyance. "Okay, f- fine, it's bad. I'm just worried a- about h- him, damn it, and n- now thi- this bullshit ha- ha- happens with m- my voice. I th- th- th- thought I got rid of it. I really d- did." She looked down as tears began to fall from her eyes. "Look, I lost one set of parents a- already. I can't l- l- lose half of another. It f- feels like a- a- a- all of my prog- progress against my st- st- st- st- stutter has been ri- ripped away i- in a s- single moment."

"Hanako, dear," Hisao's mother replied as she hugged her again. "Please, don't let this get to you. You're fine."

Then, a doctor came into the waiting room and looked straight at the group. "I'm looking for Nakai Keiko and Nakai Hisao?"

"I'm Nakai Hisao," Hisao immediately replied, standing up with her mother. "This is my mother, Nakai Keiko. Do you have an update for us?"

"Yes," the doctor neutrally replied to them. "Come this way." The three of them then left the waiting room together, leaving the rest of the group unsure as to what was about to happen to Hisao's father.

Akira then spoke up first among them, asking a hard-hitting question. "What if he has the same condition Hisao-kun has?"

Hanako immediately looked at Akira as Lilly looked in the general direction of her sister's voice, Hanako carefully adjusting her head's tilt to match her's. "Oh no," Hanako stuttered in response. "Please... N- Not that... A- A- Anything but t- that."

"It's sadly a possibility," Lilly noted. "Conditions like his can be passed down."

"Damn it," Hanako growled out. "That's what I'm af- afraid of!" She then stood up and stared at both of them, some anger and plenty of fear in her eyes, her stutter disappearing once more. "Lilly, Akira, I want what me and Hisao have to last forever, and part of that plan includes having kids, but I don't want to pass along his condition to them! It was always in the back of my mind, but it's never come to my full attention until this happened with his father."

Akira could see the fear in her eyes, and while Lilly could not see it, she could sense the fear in her voice. Lilly addressed her, worried about Hanako's concerns, with, "Hanako-chan, you guys are young. Kids won't be for a while. I understand you're worried, but that's not for certain. It simply is a possibility."

"Exactly," Akira also replied to her, now feeling somewhat guilty for bringing it up. "I never said it was a for-sure thing. Hell, even if is genetic, who knows if it will actually be passed along to your kids. Maybe it will stop with Hisao-kun."

...

Meanwhile, in Beijing, Emi had finished another round of sex with Ethan in the evening after practice. This time, both of them were completely sober, and the experience had been even better than their first time. Afterwards, the two began talking about the fire service, since Ethan had revealed himself to be a retained firefighter back in Scotland. "So," he continued. "I continued from where I left off at Gordounstown School in the same fire service since my family lives in the territory of Grampian Fire and Rescue. In short, I've been doing this for five years, four of those as a retained firefighter, and one as a volunteer student firefighter."

"Certainly more than me," Emi replied, not bothering to cover herself up since it was just the two of them in the room. "I've only been doing this since May. I've caught three working fires so far."

"I caught only two when I was a student fireman," Ethan replied. "In the four other years, obviously, being an athlete at the level I'm at means you can't go to every fire. Even so, I've done... Hmm... Yeah, I've done at least 12 actual building fires since I've started, plus a bunch of chimney and vehicle fires. Gordounstown only got about 50-60 callouts a year, and the station I'm at now doesn't get much more, but when we do get actual fires, they tend to be pretty bad due to the distances and the low water supply. We tend to get a lot more road traffic collisions, and really bloody nasty ones to boot."

"I haven't gotten a bad accident yet," Emi noted to him. "Some minor injuries at some fender benders, or maybe a fluid spill, but nothing too bad. I know it'll happen, though." She then sat up and grinned at him. "At least I can say I've made an actual grab."

"A rescue?" Ethan realized she was using mostly American terms instead of British terms. "Well, yeah, I gotta concede that. I haven't pulled people out of fires. They all either tend to get out, or they're dead. I'm sure I'll get one eventually."

...

**_August 29, 2008_**

Hanako and Hisao awoke around 2 in the morning to her pager ringing in their bedroom. As Hanako sprang from bed and ran to put clothes on, the two of them having gone to bed naked, Hisao adjusted his eyes and smiled, happy to see Hanako so active and full of energy at the drop of a hat. The pager squawked out the information of the call as Hanako got a t-shirt, a pair of Hisao's briefs, and sweatpants and haphazardly put them all on. "Not gonna wear a bra?"

"No time," Hanako replied to him as she ran back over and gave him a quick kiss. "It's sounds like a bad wreck." She then ran out of the bedroom at near lightning speed as Hisao heard the phone-like DTMF tones over her pager, which she had grabbed with her along with her phone and keys, which triggered Station 51's outdoor siren. It's wailing up and down tone was loud, but also somewhat soothing to Hisao's ears.

As Hanako jumped into her car and turned it on, she flipped the lights on and looked around before speeding off to the firehouse, the pedal almost to the floor as she saw the lights of Aerial 151 come down the opposite way on the road. The call had come in as a car into a ditch with possible fire and entrapment. It had been about a minute and a half since the call came in when she pulled out of the driveway.

Two and a half minutes in, she pulled into Station 51's parking lot and ran out of her car once she parked it. She ran into the side door of the firehouse and towards her gear locker in the back, reaching it just as another two firefighters pulled in. Once she was fully dressed, she ran to the ambulance and hopped in the back. Once she was belted in, two more volunteers hopped up front and started up the ambulance. It had been about four minutes, and the ambulance was already ready to respond just as even more people ran in. As the ambulance pulled out, Aerial 51 came over the radio with a chilling message. "Aerial 51 to Fire Control."

"Aerial 51," replied a dispatcher.

"Aerial 51 is on scene," the paid captain on duty replied, his voice clearly muffled by a mask. "We have a car into the ditch, on fire! We have a civilian and I think an officer trying to pull the driver out, and the cabin is completely engulfed! Get me a helicopter here!"

"Received," the dispatcher replied. "Fire Control to Car 50-Bravo, where do you want the landing zone for that helicopter?"

"Tone out Station 57 and have them set up a landing zone at Ekiraku Elementary School," Car 50-Bravo replied.

About six and a half minutes in, Ambulance 51 pulled up on scene. Hanako stepped out of the back of the ambulance, pulling the stretcher out as she did. As they arrived, they could see that there were crews putting the car fire out, and they could see two police officers and a fire chief attending to what was presumed to be the driver. Hanako asked the volunteer lieutenant who rode in on the ambulance with her, "You want all these supplies over to the patient, Lieutenant?"

"Yeah," he replied, directing her over. "We got two EMS-certified guys on here. Ikezawa-san, go see if you can grab the driver's pack off the aerial and swap out with one of the paramedics on their crew."

"On it," she replied as she walked over to the driver of Aerial 51, who was manning the pumps. "Hey, sir, can I grab the driver's pack? The lieutenant on the ambulance wants me to swap out with one of the guys on the lines down there."

"Sure," he replied, pointing to the compartment where it was kept. "Go ahead." Hanako gave a thumbs-up and opened the compartment, grabbing the pack and putting it on before taking her helmet off to put her mask on. As she put her mask on, she heard another fire engine pull up, and quickly got herself ready so nobody could take her place. Once she was ready, she walked down in the ditch and found the paramedic. "Firefighter Midorikawa!"

The paid firefighter, who had just begun to back up another on the backup line, turned around and replied back, "What is it?!"

"They want me to switch out with you so you can go be with the patient," Hanako informed him as she clipped her mask into her bottle and began to breathe pack air.

"Alright," he replied. As Hanako took his position, he told her, "Okay, you're gonna be on the backup line. If you want, you can take the nozzle to get some time on that."

The firefighter ahead of her turned his head and asked Hanako, "You want some nozzle time, probie?"

"Sure," Hanako replied as they began to switch places. As they did, the paramedic walked back up out of the ditch. "Alright, I'm all set in front!"

The firefighter backing her up then waved over to his captain, who was backing up the attack line, and asked him, "Hey, Captain Chiba, can we let the vollie probie that came on the ambulance get in there?!"

"Go crazy," Ayakazu replied, signaling his partner to back off by tapping him on the shoulder. "Much of the fire's knocked down, but the steering column's still burning good!"

Hanako replied, "You got it!" She then opened up on the nozzle and began slowly approaching the car as the other line backed off. As she got closer into the cab, she began to concentrate her efforts on the steering column. Since they were largely composed of magnesium, they burned intensely, and the only way to put magnesium fires out was either through a metals fire extinguisher or copious amounts of water. Hanako clearly was going for the latter as she laid into the steering column, the fire turning a bright white as sparks flew everywhere and smoke clouded her vision. Then, in the corner of her line of sight as some smoke cleared, she noticed something in the back of the car. "Hey, wait a minute! Wh- What the fuck is that?!"

The firefighter backing her up looked over her shoulder and also noticed it. "Oh shit! Hey, Captain! Get over here! I think there's a body in the back seat!"

The captain and his partner then dropped their hose line and ran back over to take a look as Hanako finally put out the fire in the steering column. The captain peered into the car, the heat still intense from the fire, and indeed saw a badly burned dead body in the back. "Shit, you're right. We got a crew from the light rescue coming down here with some saws and tools, so we'll get it out soon. Once they're down here, we'll swap out with them and go down to one line."

Then, they all heard a loud pop from inside the car that slightly startled Hanako. Even so, she remained undeterred, continuing to flow water inside the car. "That's the last shock absorber going off I think in the front," the firefighter backing her up replied. "Don't worry. The others already blew up."

As Hanako put out several more hot spots, three firefighters came down with tools and air packs. The captain looked at this and then looked at Hanako, asking her, "Hey, Ikezawa, swap out with one of those guys so you can help me and Firefighter Nogi with taking the body out!"

"Right" Hanako replied, shutting the nozzle off and handing it to a volunteer who had just come down into the ditch. As she did, the captain took a halligan to the rear door, prying it open with the adze end of the tool. Since the door was damaged by fire and the crash, it did not take long for the door to be opened. Hanako reached in to look for a place to grab the body. "I'm dragging it out now, Captain! Do we got something ready to bring the body up?"

"We got a backboard off the ambulance," Ayakazu replied to her. "It's coming down now."

Hanako then reached in to grab the body by what was left of the legs. As she did, she got a look at its face, or what was left of it. It had become a burned and greasy skull, and what was left of the skin indicated he was in incredible pain when he died. As she pulled, she felt almost nauseous, but nothing would compare to what happened next. The legs gave way and came off the body with just a slight pull, making Hanako scream loudly through her mask and back out. "Holy fucking shit! The legs just fucking came off!" She then stood back as Ayakazu looked in and saw that, indeed, the legs had come off.

He told Hanako, "Hey, you alright?" As he went over to her, his partner reached in and grabbed the legs first, carefully placing them on the backboard that was held by two volunteers and doing his best to strap them in, even as burned chunks of skin fell off.

"Yeah," Hanako replied as she took a deep breath through her mask. "Okay... Okay... That... I wasn't expecting that, that was all." She then walked back over to help pull out the rest of the body, which was also partially stuck to the burned out rear seat due to the heat. She was mostly quiet for the rest of the night afterwards, disturbed by what she had seen.


End file.
